Elastic belts for articles of clothing



y 1955 P. VANDER ET'AL ELASTIC BELTS FOR ARTICLES OF CLOTHING Filed June 7, 1951 .,iiisiiii'i.

United States Patent ELASTIC BELTS FOR ARTICLES 0F CLOTHING Paul Vander, Munich-Gladbach, and Georg Eichel, Dusseldorf, Germany; said Eichel assignor to said Vander Application June 7, 1951, Serial No. 239,284 Claims priority, application Germany June 17, 1950 Claims. (Cl. 2237) The present invention relates to elastic belts for articles of clothing and more particularly to elastic belts designed to be permanently attached to trousers and skirts. Also the present invention relates to a novel process for making the belt and for attaching the same to the article of clothing.

Elastic belts on clothing have been known in the past for example in mens shorts and even on waist portions of outer articles of clothing. Many disadvantages are present in known elastic belts which are attached to outer articles of clothing. For example, if they are made in the same way as elastic belts of mens shorts, they are too weak to perform their desired functions. Also, known elastic belts on outer articles of clothing do not have a desirable appearance so that they have not promoted the salability of the clothing. Moreover, where such belts have been known in the past, it has been necessary to provide the article of clothing with special hollow sections in which the belt is mounted, and this increases the cost of the clothing considerably so that it has not been possible to provide such belts in inexpensive ready-made clothing.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an elastic belt which is of a very simple and inexpensive construction to be permanently attached to an article of clothing.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for attaching such a belt to an article of clothing in such a simple manner that unskilled workers can easily attach the belt properly.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an elastic belt of the above-described type which at the same time descreases the present day costs of clothing.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an elastic belt of the above-described type which will have a pleasing outward appearance.

Still another object of the present invention is to probelt and has a corrugated outer surface which aids in preventing slipping of the belt. Among the further features of the invention is the provision of an intermediate portion between the two above-mentioned sections so that the belt may be easily folded along this intermediate portion. Also, the invention includes the feature of weaving the elastic threads into the fabric of the belt while the elastic'threads arein a stretched condition so that whenthey areinanunstretched condition the fab ric of the belt is pulled together into small gathers. "The two intermediate spaced sections which carry the elastic threads leave two opposite outer edge portions along the band which are rufiled when the elastic threads are in the non-stretched condition. One of these edge portions is wider than the other edge portion, is located on the outer side of the article of clothing, and is sewn to the edge of the waist along a line adjacent to the elastic section located next to this one edge portion. The other narrower edge portion is located, after bending the band along the intermediate non-elastic portion through on the inner side of the article of clothing and is sewn thereto. In this Way the edge of the waist portion of the article of clothing is completely covered by the elastic band which straddles the same, and it is therefore unnecessary to finish the edge portion of the waist of the article of clothing. As a result of this latter feature, the cost of producing an article of clothing is greatly reduced. In manufacturing mens trousers, for example, the cost of finishing the waist portion is greater than the cost of manufacuring the remainder of the trousers, and by the present invention this cost is greatly reduced.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of a pair of trousers having the belt of the present invention attached thereto;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view partially in section of the belt of the present invention in an intermediate stage of the process of attaching the same to an article of clothing;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view partially in section of the belt as it is finally attached to an article of clothing; and

Fig. 4 is an isometric view partly in section showing the important features of the belt of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. 1 the upper portion of a pair of trousers 5 having the belt 6 attached to the waist portion thereof. This belt 6 is sewn to the waist of the trousers 5 so as to be permanently attached thereto and therefore eliminate the need of a separate belt or suspenders. The belt 6 is made of an elastic fabric so that it easily adapts itself to waists of different sizes and performs the function of a conventional belt which maintains a pair of trousers in position on the wearer.

The details of the construction of the belt 6 are shown in Fig. 4. The belt comprises an elongated band of fabric divided into five longitudinal, parallel sections 6, 7, 8,9 and 10. The sections l and 10 are the outer edge portions of the belt, and the intermediate sections 6 and 7 are separated by the section 3. The entire belt is Woven as a unitary piece of fabric, and during the weaving thereof a plurality of elongated elastic threads are woven into the sections 6 and 7. These threads are in a stretched condition when they are woven into the fabric, so that in the finished article the fabric is pulled together in a plurality of gathers when the elastic threads are in an unstretched condition. It will be noted from Fig. 4, that the section 6 is somewhat thicker than the section 7 and hastwice as many elastic threads therein as are located in the section 7. Also, it will be noted that the elastic threads in section 6 are thicker than the elastic threads in section 7. The fabric in section7 is formed aroundthe elastic threads therein so that a plurality of corrugationsare located alongaround the outer surfacesofsection 7. This section. 7 of the belt is adapted to;

be locatedfon the inner side of the belt and bear against the waist of the wearer so that these corrugations inportion ,8, which is free of elastic threads, is intended to permit the elastic band to be easily folded along this elongated portion 8.

in Fig. 2 the belt is shown at an intermediate stage of its attachment to the trousers 5. The belt is placed with its outer side against the outer side of the trousers 5 and with the edge portion Q extending along the unfinished edge of the waist portion of the trousers 5. The belt is then sewn to the trousers by the thread 11 which is located closely adjacent to the section 6 of the belt so that the ruifies, in the edge portion 9 are located above the thread 11. In this way when the belt is folded over into its final position the outer part of the trousers and belt will present a smooth appearance along the thread 11 wherethey are joined to each other. After the belt has been attached to the trousers by the thread 11, the entire belt is bent upwardly about the thread 11 and then the belt is bent through lSG along the section 8 so that the inner side of section 7' and edge portion 10 are located along the inner side of the trousers 5, as shown in Fig. 3. The edge 19 is then sewn to the trousers by the thread 12, and it will be noted that the major part of the ruflles in section 16 are located above the thread 0 12' so that the belt can give considerably without stretching the material of the trousers. Since the belt straddles the unfinished edge of the trousers 5, as is apparent from Fig. 3, this unfinished edge is completely concealed from view and therefore does not require any finishing. Only u the outer surface of section 6 and the outer surface of section 8 are visible when the belt is worn.

It is apparent'that by the above process, a very simple belt is provided which may be very simply attached to The belt can a attaching the same to an article of clothing is only intend'ed to show one possible example of carrying out the present invention. The outer edge portions'9 and 1 0 are not essential, although their presence prevents damaging of the elastic threads when the belt is sewn to an article of clothing. Also, the intermediate portion 8 is not essential, but this feature is very desirable because it controls the folding line of the belt and does not leave this matter up to. the discretion of workers who may not always told the belt properly. Also, although the belt has been above-described as being attached to a skirt or a pair. of trousers, it is obvious that the invention is applicable to the waist portion of any article of clothing such as, for example, jackets and blouses to which the belt of the present invention may be attached, as disclosed above, for properly locating the waist of such an article of clothing on the wearer. It is evident that the belt of the present invention may be attached directly to the lining on. the inside of an article of clothing or may be sewn directly over any materials located on the inside of an article of clothing.

It, will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of elastic belt differing from the types described above.

'While the invention has'been illustrated and described as. embodied in an elastic belt and process for making and attaching the same to an article of clothing, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 7

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic'or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In an article of clothing having a waist portion which has an inside and an outside and an unfinished edge, a belt attached to said waist portion, said belt comprising an elongated fabric band having a first edge portion and a first elongated section extending along the length of said band and being located next to said first edge portion, said belt being sewn to the outside of the waist portion adjacent the unfinished edge thereof by a thread passing through said first edge portion along a line located adjacent to said first elongated'section, said band having an inermediate elongated portion located distant from the unfinished edge of the waist portion and a second section extending from said intermediate portion into overlapping relationship with the inside of the waist portion in overlapping relation with the unfinished edge of the waist portion, and said belt having a second edge portion extending from said second section and being. sewn to the waist portion on the inside thereof, said first and second sections having elastic threads embedded therein and extending along the length of said band and said elastic threads in their unstretched condition gathering together the fabric of said band, the elastic threads in said first section being more. numerous and thicker than the elactic threads in said second section and said second section having a substantially corrugated outer surface.

2. In an article. of clothing having a waist portion which has an inside and an outside and an unfinished edge, a belt attached to said waist portion, said belt comprising an elongated fabric band having a first edge portion and a first elongated section extending along the length of said band and being located next to said first edge portion, said belt being sewn to the outside of the waist portion adjacent the unfinished edge thereof by band having an intermediate elongated portion located distant from. the unfinished edge of the waist portion and a second section extending from said intermediate: portion into overlapping relationship with the inside of the waist portion in overlapping relation with the unfinished edge of the waist portion, and said belt having a second. edge portion extending from said second section and being sewn to the waist portion on the inside thereof, said first and second sections having elastic threads embedded therein and extending along the length of said band and said elastic threads in their unstretched condition gathering together the fabric of said band, the elastic threads in. said first section being more numerous and thicker than the elastic threads in said second. section and said second section having a substantially corrugated outer surface,

- said second edge portion of said band'being narrower than said first edge portion and having a plurality of gathers therein so that said band may be stretched without stretching the waist portion.

3. In an article of clothing having a waist portion; which has an inside and an outside and an unfinished.

edge, a belt attached to said waist portion, said belt comprising an elongated fabric band having a first edge portion and a first elongated section extending along, the length of said band and being located. next. to said first edge portion, said belt being sewn to the outside of the waist portion adjacent the unfinished edge thereof by a thread passing through said first edge portion along a line located adjacent to said first elongated section, said band having an intermediate elongated portion located distant from the'unfinished edge of the waist portion and a second section extending from said intermediate por tion into overlapping relationship with the inside of the Waist portion in overlapping relation with the unfinished edge of the waist portion, and said belt having a second edge portion extending from said second section and being sewn to the waist portion on the inside thereof, said first and second sections having elastic threads embedded therein and extending along the length of said band and said elastic threads in their unstretched condition gathering together the fabric of said band, the elastic threads in said first section being more numerous and thicker than the elastic threads in said second section and said second section having a substantially corrugated outer surface, said second edge portion of said band being narrower than said first edge portion and having a plurality of gathers therein so that said band may be stretched without stretching the waist portion and said intermedi ate elongated portion of said band being free of elastic threads.

4. A garment comprising, in combination, a waist portion having a free edge and adapted to be located about the waist of the wearer; and a fabric band straddling said edge of said waist portion, having opposite side portions in which elastic threads are located, and having opposite side edges which are finished so that said side edges will not fray, said opposite side portions of said band being thicker and heavier than the material of said waist portion so as to resist rolling when located about the waist of the wearer, the elastic threads in one of said side portions of said band being thicker and more numer- 6 Y one than the elastic threads in the other of said side portions of said band, and said opposite side portions of said band being separated by an intermediate band portion which is free of elastic threads.

5. A band comprising, an elongated fabric strip adapted to straddle the waist portion of a garment, said band having opposite side portions in which elastic threads are located and having opposite side edges which are finished so that said side edges will not fray, the elastic threads in one of said side portions of said band being thicker and more numerous than the elastic threads in the other of said side portions of said band, and said opposite side portions of said band being separated by an intermediate band portion which is free of elastic threads.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 24,691 Baare et al July 5, 1859 519,727 Moore May 15, 1894 1,149,271 Lazarus Aug. 10, 1915 1,433,565 Pietrafesa Oct. 31, 1922 1,669,868 Pagan May 15, 1928 1,706,508 Wininett Mar. 26, 1929 2,106,334 Adamson Jan. 25, 1938 2,195,894 Moore Apr. 2, 1940 2,609,541 Kaplan Sept. 9, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 525,798 Great Britain Sept. 4, 1940 OTHER REFERENCES Vogue Dressmaking Book, Conde Nast Publication, 10th edition, 1949, page 36, par. 3. (Copy available in Div. 24.) 

